Rafael Nadal gave an extensive interview to the program The objective, from La Sexta, in which he addressed his controversial agreement with Saudi Arabia, in addition to his sporting present, the final stretch of his career and other topics such as equality, fatherhood that he debuted two years ago or some future plans. The meeting with the journalist Ana Pastor lasts 53 minutes and is framed in the tennis player’s academy in Manacor.
The Spanish athlete and the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF) announced on January 15 that Nadal will serve as a tennis ambassador for the Arab country, internationally accused of violating human rights and applying the death penalty. The Mallorcan, 37 years old and a professional for 20, says that he understands the criticism, that the signed contract does not correspond to any development strategy. sportswashing —whitening of the image through sport— and that a margin will be granted to determine whether it has acted well or not. “But what need did Rafa Nadal have to get into this mess?” the interviewer asks. And he extends.
“Need, none. What do they pay me? Yes. Do I need the money I am going to receive? Not at all, it’s not going to change my life. I have not signed any super contract like other fellow athletes who are there, and whom I respect. My contract with them is to promote tennis and try to achieve my goals. And that [blanquear] It’s not my goal. Is another one. Many times, people tend to give their opinion without asking, and when I accepted the decision I knew what would happen. I think we made a communication error when it was announced. “I wasn’t as on top as I should have been and my team made a mistake…” he explains, probably referring to the surprising ruling issued at that time: “Wherever you look, in Saudi Arabia you can see growth and progress, and I’m excited. to be part of that.”
What do they pay me? Yes. Do I need what I’m going to earn? Not at all. I have not signed any super contract
Nadal emphasizes up to three times that “there was an error in the statement” and that he has accepted the proposal as a “personal challenge”, because “sport has the power to change lives” and there “people do not have a culture of practice sports.” He assures that the agreement includes exit clauses for both parties and that if his personal and professional objectives are not met, or he detects constraints of any kind, he will execute them. “I have been a consistent person throughout my life and I believe that I will have the freedom to be able to work with the values that I should work on; “I am not going to work there in a way that does not make me feel comfortable,” he indicates; “I’m just saying: let me do my project, and we’ll see if I’m able to achieve my goal, which is to improve people’s lives through sports. I have been told that this is the way; If then it is someone else, I will have been wrong…”.
Human rights and information
The tennis player argues that before formalizing the relationship – whose figures have not been disclosed – he informed himself about the country that hires him and that he also visited it. He did it in December, when he met with some young people in Riyadh to complete the announcement, made while the Australian Open was being played, which he could not attend due to an injury that cut short his comeback. “Are there things that need to be improved? Definitely. I don’t agree with all that [sobre los derechos humanos], not at all. It is a country very backward in many things. If you don’t get the evolution I will say: I was completely wrong. But there are many countries that have been accepted and respected, that came from a very difficult situation regarding all these rights, and about which today there is a totally different vision. Let me work,” emphasizes Nadal, who does not consider that he has disappointed people: “There is a lack of information.” It did transpire that he plans to open a branch of his academy there, and that the contract will require him to spend time each year in the desert. And he continues.
“I don’t think Saudi needs me to cleanse its image. It is a country that has opened up to the world, with great potential. It is logical that the world is going there and the feeling is that everything is bought with money. And now Rafa has also sold himself to money. Yes, I understand [que la gente lo piense]”, he points out before moving on to other topics that go beyond Arabia or the clues.
For example, the athlete says that throughout his life he has resorted to psychological help a couple of times, something he had not done until now. “Once when he was very little and another time when he was more advanced. Because of two problems I had,” he details. “If you have pain in your leg you go to the doctor, right? Maybe it has been a more taboo topic, but I don’t perceive it this way, but rather in a normal and natural way. It is another part of the body, I would say the most important. If people who have problems, no matter how small, can receive help that helps them be happier, they are welcome,” he expands in this sense.
He also addresses a hint he slipped when he became a father for the first time. He then stated that life was probably not going to change too much, something that he now clarifies, aimed strictly at the professional. “It doesn’t change me because of a simple fact: because I know how my wife thinks.” [con la que mantiene una relación desde 2005 y se casó en 2019]. I would change if I had a partner who didn’t want to travel at all… It’s impossible for me to say it in that sense. I love children and I have always wanted to be a father. “I am in love with children,” he says before delving into the topic of equality.
The unfair thing is that there is no equal opportunity. But the term feminism is taken to extremes…
“I believe in her one hundred percent,” he emphasizes while the interlocutor tells him that on other occasions when he has referred to the matter, she has perceived him as uncomfortable. “What I am not is a hypocrite. The investment? Opportunities? The same. The same salaries? “No, for what?” Nadal responds, emphasizing that for him, “the unfair thing is that there is no equal opportunity.” And he continues: “If you tell me that being a feminist means that a man and a woman deserve the same opportunities, I am a feminist. I have a sister, a mother… But that term is taken to extremes that… If we talk about logical and normal things, of course I want equality! But for me, equality does not lie in giving. It lies in the fact that if Serena Williams generates more than me, I want Serena to earn more than me. “If she is filling the stadiums and lives in a country like the United States, where the potential is greater than in Spain, I don’t want her to have to earn more than Serena Williams because she is Rafa Nadal.”
And he goes deeper: “I want women to earn more than men if they really generate more than men. It bothers me when people say: Don’t you think the prizes should be equal? In tennis, for some reason, the prizes are practically the same, and women’s tennis is a very popular sport in the world. I have supported all of that internally throughout my life. […]. The better they win, the better. I never want to get into a battle like that. [lo masculino y lo femenino]. The problem is the discussion,” Nadal clarifies; “Do you think I can think that a man, just because he is a man, should be more important or earn more than a woman? Are we crazy or what? Of course, the public sector has to give the same opportunities to a man and a woman! In the beginning, of infrastructure, of coaches… But if you tell me that the 50th in the world has to earn the same as Djokovic, I will tell you: maybe it is not like that, because if not in the end we still have to go to some standards by those in which everyone has to earn the same by decree… And that is another debate that we can have.”
DISCARD DOHA, FOCUS ON LAS VEGAS AND PRIORITIZE INDIAN WELLS
A. C. | Madrid
The dialogue between Nadal and Pastor also goes through some sections of the tennis player’s career, which in an instant already suggests that he doubts the possibility of competing next week in the Doha tournament, as he intended. He reappeared earlier in the year in Brisbane, Australia, but suffered another injury there. He now considers that he must wait.
“I’ve had some discomfort these last few weeks and I’m a little on edge. At this point, every blow I take, every injury, is a setback not only in tennis and physically, but also mentally. I am one hundred percent confident in being in Indian Wells [del 6 al 17 de marzo]”, indicates the Spaniard, who before the broadcast of the interview with La Sexta confirmed that he will not be able to play in the emirate.
In this way, Nadal will concentrate his efforts on attending an exhibition in Las Vegas promoted by Netflix, against Carlos Alcaraz, on March 3, and then on being able to parade on the Californian asphalt of Indian Wells (from March 6 to 17), one of his favorite tournaments. In any case, he reiterates that his main objective is to “arrive as healthy as possible” to the dirt tour that begins in April, and specifies that he would also like to participate in the Paris Games.
However, he lives day to day more than ever. “My dream is to retire on the slopes, but it is difficult to plan all this. Today it is very difficult for me to think of a great comeback,” she points out. “I don’t know how many events I have left to play, but I suspect there aren’t many. I cannot confirm it for simple consistency. I have not decided one hundred percent,” she answers when asked if this will be his last professional year, as everything indicates.
Furthermore, Nadal proposes a notable phrase about Novak Djokovic, the most successful of all time: “I think he is a good person, with his mistakes, because he accentuates them with his actions, but he is good.” And he also praises Carlos Alcaraz: “he has an incredible level, he is super complete. I had many more tennis weaknesses than him at his age: worse serve, volley and slice than him. He is someone with great ambition and a very clear idea. At his age, I would never have imagined thinking about those goals. They are different mentalities.”